Tuesday August 24, 2021 Bonnie and Yafi were living together for about 3 months, when Yafi came home and said “Hey, I have someone I want you to meet. You’re gonna love each other but please do not date you are not right for each other.” When additional questions were asked, Reuben’s fashion sense was described as “one of those 60s mob guys” so I truly had no idea what to expect. We were supposed to go meet at Death & Co, but it was Tuesday and it was Trivia night at our local bar. Long Story Short we forgot to cancel with our trivia group, so I suggested inviting Reuben (he’s smart, right?) and changing the plan. Yafi, in her infinite wisdom, asked Reuben to come over and would “convince him to come to trivia once he was here”. Bonnie gets a text at 2pm - “looks like we’ll have about 8 people over around 6pm” and gets to work making a cheese board. Reuben shows up in all linen and a Panama hat, with everything needed to make a perfect martini. Naturally, it was love at first sip. Just kidding. Wouldn’t that be nice? No, we spent hours talking and Reuben ogled my wine scrapbook, and kept the martinis flowing. Yafi told us not to date, but we didn’t listen. After 2.5 weeks of dating, Reuben broke up with me because I wasn’t sure I wanted to live in New York anymore. And you know how people say they stay friends with their exes? Well, we actually did. 3 years later, countless shabbas meals, Bonnie living in 3 different cities, an international vacation together, and a few breakups later… We were walking in SoHo one night and Reuben turned to me and said “all I want is a nice Jewish girl who is open to having kids and wants to live in New York, why is that so hard to find?” A visit to the eye doctor revealed there was in fact one of what he ordered right in front of him! After a few months of agonizing over and over analyzing whether we would ruin our friendship by dating, I said to Reuben “Just make a decision. If you want to date, bring champagne. If not, bring a California cab” March 29, 2024 A few days later on his way to see opening day at Citi Field, he dropped off a bottle of champagne and asked me to put it in the fridge for later. And (even though they have the best opening day record in baseball), two predictable things happened that day. Two friends took a chance on each other, and the New York Mets lost.

I’d long been opposed to a destination engagement; I wanted it to happen somewhere I could always visit and point out to friends and family. But an opportunity to get engaged in France was too good to pass up. So, on a cold rainy night in the West Village, as we walked back to Bonnie’s apartment following several drinks, I stumbled across an idea. What if we got engaged on a hill in a vineyard? What if that vineyard was in a cru in France with wines we absolutely adore (and which are relatively affordable)? What if we then bought a case of wine from that vineyard and drank a bottle yearly to celebrate the occasion? It was a perfect idea; the only problem was that I said the entire plan out loud to Bonnie as I was thinking it through. So much for surprises. There were still a few details to iron out. I needed the ring (very important), an appropriate vessel for it, and the exact date and location. Over the next few months, these came together. My family very generously provided me with my grandmother’s diamond ring to give to Bonnie, but the thought of traveling internationally with an heirloom socked away in my luggage gave me an ulcer. Instead, I decided on something a bit more modest. Years back, on our way to Sicily during an unplanned layover in Heathrow (we’d missed our connection), we stopped in Tiffany’s to indulge our senses and forget that the trip logistics were becoming very complicated. There, Bonnie saw a lovely gold band, adorned with olive leaves; a perfect complement to our Sicilian expedition. It was too pricey for an impulse buy, but it stayed in my memory and when it came time to buy, it immediately sprang to mind as a perfect symbol of our long and rich friendship. Like the NJB that I am, I refused to pay retail price. Instead, I went to Jane Becker, a jeweler in the Washington Heights community, and commissioned her to make a replica of the piece. She did a fantastic job. And we were off to France, to the wedding of my dear friends Eric and Camille and a well-deserved vacation.